The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of the Russian Federation has recognized as discrimination the ban on the online drug sale from pharmacies owned by individual entrepreneurs. This is reported by Izvestia with reference to the official correspondence between the FAS and the Ministry of Economic Development.
Earlier, the proposal to lift the ban was made by the Association of Independent Pharmacies. According to the Association, this will help residents of hard-to-reach and remote areas to receive the right amount of medicines. The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation is to announce the final decision.
The government decree banned individual entrepreneurs with licenses for pharmaceutical activities from online drug trading in May 2020. In 2021, remote drug trading accounted for 8.7% of the market. In the seven months of 2022, online sales increased to reach 11.5%.
